Bloodsucking Leaches Part II

VNR = Video News Release. They are a tool used by public relations firms to "educate" the public by producing very slick, news-like featurettes which can then be showcased on local news programs.

What's alarming about them is that the stations rarely identify that the sources of this "news" is a company who's business is directly effected by the political ramifications of the issues which they address.

Democracy Now explains in greater detail (emphasis added):

AMY GOODMAN: We're going to speak with one of the authors of the report in a minute. But first, let's take a look at one of the VNRs that made it to air. In June of this year, the PR firm Medialink Worldwide put out a VNR that sought to disprove the link between global warming and hurricanes.

VNR NARRATOR: You've seen it before: winds, floods, the devastation left after a massive hurricane passes through. There's a lot of debate as to what's been causing all of these hurricanes. Some scientists say it's part of a naturally occurring cycle, while others have made the claim global warming is to blame. Dr. William Gray and Dr. James O'Brien, two of the nation's top weather and [inaudible], point to scientific data for the answer.

DR. WILLIAM GRAY: We only have good data with a satellite around the globe, going back about 20 years. And in those 20 years, we see no significant change in the frequency and intensity of hurricanes or major hurricanes around the globe.

VNR NARRATOR: Gray and many of his colleagues believe it's not global warming that’s creating these massive hurricanes, but the cycle of nature itself.

DR. WILLIAM GRAY: Since it’s changed, there's been a lot of people saying, “A-ha, the globe is warming. This is a cause of these last two years’ storms.” Well, we don't think that's the case. Whether this is a way nature sometimes works.

VNR NARRATOR: It’s these changes in the Atlantic salt content and currents that Gray says causes most of the hurricanes on the East and Gulf Coasts. This year the probability of a major hurricane is about 81%. And while this number is a prediction, it's based on science and research, so it never hurts to be prepared. I'm Kate Brookes.

AMY GOODMAN: This VNR was produced for the firm TCS Daily Science Roundtable. Until last month, TCS was owned by the Republican lobbyist, DCI Group. TCS was also the recipient of a $95,000 grant from the oil giant ExxonMobil for, quote, "climate change support." But when ABC affiliate WTOK-11 in Meridian, Mississippi, aired the VNR in May, none of these details were mentioned. Instead, viewers were shown an edited version of the VNR with the station's news anchor reading the same script.


WTOK-11 ANCHOR: Hurricane seasons for the next 20 years could be severe, but don’t blame global warming. One of the nation's foremost hurricane predictors is Dr. William Gray, the famed Colorado State University hurricane predictor. He says the earth's natural cycles are to blame for the increase in activity.

DR. WILLIAM GRAY: Since it’s changed, there's been a lot of people saying, “A-ha, the globe is warming. This is a cause of these last two years’ storms.” Well, we don't think that's the case. Whether this is a way nature sometimes works.

WTOK-11 ANCHOR: Gray makes predictions for the upcoming hurricane season every year before it begins.

AMY GOODMAN: That was from ABC affiliate WTOK-11 in Meridian, Mississippi, in May. We asked a representative of the station to come on our program, but we didn't get a response. Another 15 stations either turned down our request or didn't respond.

Read the rest here.